Latch for cabinet drawers



March 19, 1929.- STRAUBEL 1,706,085

LATCH FOR CABINET DRAWERS Filed Aug. 9, 1926 .27 Van Patented Mar. 19,1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Lemon :ron. CABINET naawnas.

Application filed August 9, 1926. Serial No. 128,259.

My inventionrelates to latches for drawers and more particularly to atype of drawer latch designed to be operated "by the pressing of apush-button and adapted to be used with the push-button disposed at aconsiderable distance from the edge of the drawer at which the latchingmember is operative.

In many classes of furniture, as for example in filing cabinets in whichthe drawers are opened and closed frequently, it is highly desirable tohave the drawer handle substantially at the middle of the drawer frontand to have the latch-operating member disposed so that it can easily beoperated by a finger of the hand grasping'the handle, thereby leavingthe other hand of the user free for' holding papers. Where the drawersof such cabinets are made of steel, it is also desirable to have thelatch mechanism quite compact longitudinally of the drawer, so that thismechanism can readily be housed between the usual inner and outer platesof such a drawer front.

My present invention aims to provide a latch construction particularlyadapted for use on metal drawer fronts, and aims to provide aconstruction for this purpose which is unusually simple, compact andeasily assembled. Further and also more detailed objects will appearfrom-the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, inwhich 1 Fig. 1 is a vertical and longitudinal section through the frontof a drawer equipped with a latch embodying my invention, and throughadjacent portions of the cabinet in which the drawer slides.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a part of the same drawer front, takenfrom the front and with the outer metal wall of the drawer detached.

Fig. 3 is'a perspective view of a part of the same drawer front, takenfrom the front and showingthe disposition of the latch-oper ating buttonin relation to the handle of the drawer.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the latchoperating member.

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 1, but drawn on a larger scale andshowing the position of the latch parts when the latch-bar has beenmoved out of its latching disposition by a rocking oftheoperatingmember.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the two end portions of the latch bolt.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the central portion of the channel member.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a drawer in which .the front comprises twosheet metal parts, namely a frontal plate 1 and a rear plate 2 which hasitsmajor portion spaced from the front plate, thereby providing a spacefor my latching mechanism, the two plates having edge portions securedto each other in. any of the usual manners.

Slidably mounted within the space between the frontaland rear plates isa latch bar 3 which projects at its upper end through a perforation 4 inthe forwardly sloping upper .part 2 of the rear plate, so as to presentalatching finger 5 adapted to project upwardly behind a keeper flange 6on the casing 7 of the cabinet when the drawer is latched. The latch barbears slidably against the forward face of. the rear plate 2 and isrestricted to a vertical movement by two spaced guides, one of theguides being a strap 8 disposed near the top of the said plate andhaving feet welded tothis rear plate. For the companion guide Idesirably employ a channel member which extends horizontally across thedrawer front behind the handle 9 of the drawer and which has its back 10welded to the rear plate 2. The back 10 of this channel is cut away toform an aperture 11 corresponding in width to the latch bar 3, and theupper web 12 is cut away at its back to provide a notch 15 through whichthe latch bar extends, while the lower web 13 has one end of a latchspring 14 welded to it. The other end of this spring exerts a continuousupward pressure on the latch bar by pressing against the forwardly bentlower end 3 of this bar, the length of the bar being such that thespring normally holds the bar in its raised or latching position ofFigs. 1 and 2.

To lower the latch bar, I employ a bellcrank lever which has its lowerarm 16 'engaging the top of the lower bar end 3 while the other arm 17of the lever extends upwardlly andcarries a button 18 which projectsthrough a perforation 19 in the frontal plate 1. To pivot this leverwithout employ.- ingauxiliary parts, I provide it at its bend withopposed lateral notches 20, thus leaving a narrowed bend portion 21corresponding in width to a notch 22 in the upper web 12 of the channelmember. When the lever is slid into the position of Fig. 2 during theassemprevent the latter from slipping out of'the fulcruming notch 22 inthe channel bar, thus retaining the lever in its operative position.

When the latched drawer is to be opened,

' the button 18 is pressed rearwardly, thereby rocking the lever againstthe pressure of the spring to the position shown in Fig. 5 and drawingthe latch bar downwardly so that the latch finger 5 will clear thekeeper flange 6. To facilitate the unlatching, I preferably dispose thehandle 9 at such a distance below the push-button 18 that the button caneasily be reached by the thumb of the hand which grasps the handle. ThisI can readily do by fastening the handle to the back 10 of the channelmember by means of screws 23 which extend'forwardly through perforations33 in the channel member and through the front plate 1, thereby alsoemploying the channel member as a means for strengthening the drawerfront to resist strains on the handle. i

To increase the effective length of the lower lever arm 16 I desirablyprovide this arm at its free end'with a relatively narrow extension 16and provide the latch bar adjacent to its bentlower end 3 withalongitudinal slot 25 into which this extension extends. I alsodesirably bevel the upper end of the arm 17 of the lever, as shown inthe drawings, to afford more clearance between this end and the latchbar. With the arrangement thus described, the upper channel web affordsboth a guide member for guiding the latch bar and I a pivot member onwhich the operating lever rocks. The lower channel web serves as amounting-for the spring,'and the channel as a whole stifiens the frontalplate, so that the single channel piece serves a three-fold purpose.Likewise, the separately manufactured push-button effectively formsaforwardly directed end piece for one arm of the lever so as to serve asa presser portion of the lever.

However, I do not wish to be limited to these'or other details of theconstruction and arrangements above disclosed, since many changes mightobviously be made without departing either from the spirit of myinvention.

or from the appended claims.

So also, I do not wish to be'limited to the employment of my latch ondiawers having two-part metal fronts. Neither do I wish to be limited toa vertical disposition of the latch bar, although I desirably employthis so as to increase the resistance of the latch to strains tending totilt the drawerfront forwardly at its top.

I claim as my invention:

1. A latch for a drawer, comprising a latch bar slidable transversely ofthe drawer along the drawer front and normally having one end projectingbeyond the drawer, a bellcrank lever pivoted to the drawer front on anaxis parallel to the face of the said front and transverse of thedirection in which thelatch bar is slidable, the lever having one armextending substantially in the said direction the said arm having aprojection extending forwardly through the front of the drawer topresent an exposed portion whereby the lever may be manipulated byrearx'vard pressure on the said exposed portion, the lever having itsother arm extending rearwardly of the drawer and engaging the latch barso as to move the latter out of its said end-projecting normaldisposition when the exposed lever portion is moved rearwardly of thedrawer; and spring means directly interposed between the drawer and thelatch bar for moving the lever and latch harm the opposite direction.

2. A drawer latch'as per claim 1, in which the spring means also serveto hold the latch bar continuously in operative relation to the saidother arm of the lever.

3. A latch for a drawer, comprising a latch bar carried by the front ofthe drawer and guided for vertical sliding movement behind the frontface of thedrawer front and normally having its upper end projectingbeyond the drawer; a pivot member mounted on the drawer front behind thesaid front face; a

front disposed forwardly of the latch bar, the

bell-crank lever pivoted tothe pivot member I on a horizontal axisparallel to the-drawer.

lever having an upwardly extending arm provided with an end piecenormally projecting forwardly through the front face of thedrawer front,the lever having its other arm extending rearwardly and in engagementwith the latch bar so-that the saidother arm will slide'the latch bardownwardly when the lever is rocked about the pivot member by rearwardpressure on the said end piece; and spring means for resisting thedownward sliding of the latch bar and the rocking of the lever in thesaid direction.

4. A latch for a drawer, comprisin a latch bar spaced rearwardly fromthe ront of the drawer and guided for vertical sliding movement, thelatch bar normally having its upper end projecting upwardly beyond thedrawer; a pivot member mounted on the drawer front behind the saidfrontface; a bell-crank lever pivoted to the pivot member on a horizontalaxis parallel to the drawer front disposed forwardl of the'latch boltand close to the drawer ront, the lever having an upwardly extending armforward of the latch bar and provided with an end piece normallyprojecting forwardly through the front face of the drawer front, thelever having its other arm extending rearwardly and the latch bar havinga forwardly directed shoulder underhanging and engaging the free end ofthe said other lever arm; and spring means for resisting the downwardsliding of the latch bolt. v

5. A latch fora drawer having a front plate, comprising a horizontalguide member fast with respect to the said front plate, the guide memberhaving a frontal notch and a rearwardly open notch; a bell-crank leverextending through and pivoted in the said frontal notch, a latch barextending slidably through the rearwardly open notch, and spring meansresisting slidable movement of the latch bar in one direction; the leverhaving one arm normally extending upwardly along the rear face of thefront plate, the said arm having a presser portion projecting forwardlythrough. the front plate; the lever having its other arm extendingrearwardly and the latch bar having a shoulder engaging the said otherlever arm whereby a rocking of the lover by rearward pressure on thesaid presser portion will cause the said other lever arm to slide thelatch bar in the said one direction.

6. A latch for a drawer front having spaced frontal and rear plates,comprising a pivoting member mounted on one of the plates and having arearwardly open notch, a vertical latch bar extending slidably throughthe said notch and retained in the notch by the rear plate; a bell-cranklever pivoted to the pivoting member on an axis parallel to the face ofthe drawer front and at right angles to the direction in which the latchbar is slidable, the lever having one arm extending between the frontalplate and the latch bar and having the free end of the said armprojecting through the frontal plate, the lever having its other armextending rearwardly andthe latch bar having a shoulder underhanging thefree end of the said other lever arm; and spring means operativelyinterposed between the latch bar and one of the said plates for urgingthe latch bolt upwardly.

7; A drawer latch construction as per claim 6, in which the pivotingmember is formed by the upper web of a channel bar disposed between thetwo plates, and in which the spring has one end secured to the other webof the channel bar.

8. A drawer latch construction as per claim 6, in which the pivotingmember is formed by the upper web of a channel bar disposed between thetwo plates and in which the channel bar has its back secured to thefrontal plate, in combination with a drawer handle secured to the saidchannel back.

9. A latch for a drawer having a frontal face plate and arear platesecured thereto and having a part of the rear plate separated from thesaid frontal plate by a space, comprising a latch bar slidablevertically along the forward face of the rear plate, a pivot memberdisposed in the said space and secured to the frontal plate, thepivoting member having a horizontal ledge extending forwardly close tothe frontal plate, the ledge having a forwardly open notch; a bell-cranklever having its bend extending through the notch and having one leverarm extending vertically adjacent to the back of the frontal plate, thefree end of the said le ver arm having a portion normally projectingforwardly through the frontal plate; the other arm of the leverextending rearwardly and the latch bar having a shoulder underhangingthe free end of the said other lever arm; and a spring operativelyinterposed between the rear plate and the latch bar for urging the latchbolt upwardly.

10. A drawer latch as per claim 9, in which the pivoting member has arearwardly open notch adjacent to the rear member, and in which thelatch bar extends through the said notch and is slidably guided by wallsof the notch.

11. A latch for a drawer having a frontal face portion, a rear membersecured thereto and having a part of the rear member separated from thesaid frontal portion by a space; comprising a latch bar slidablevertically along the forward face of the rear member, a pivoting memberdisposed in the said space and secured to the rear member, the pivotingmember having a horizontal ledge extending forwardly close to the saidfrontalportion, the ledge having a forwardly open notch; a bell-cranklever having its bend extending through the notch and having one leverarm extending vertically adjacent to the back of the said frontalportion, the free end of the said lever arm having a portion normallyprojecting forwardly through the said frontal portion; the other arm ofthe lever extending rearwardly and the latch bar having a shoulderunderhanging the free end of the said other arm; and a spring interposedbetween the pivoting member and the latch bar for urging the latch barupwardly.

Signed at Green Bay, Wisconsin, August 6th, 1926.

FREDERICK L. e. STRAUBEL.

